Orienting Yourself and Getting Around

If you are trying to figure out North, South, East, or West in Seattle, most Seattleites will tell you that the water is West, so you can go from there. That’s true. Puget Sound is West. We also have water on the East, that’s Lake Washington and some more even further East; even some to the North in Lake Union. Okay then, they might tell you that the mountains are to the East. That’s true, the Cascade Mountain range is to the East. We also have the Olympics to the West, just past the water. And a little mountain to the South-ish that we call Rainier (“ray – near”). Whew.

Don’t worry! We have help and sensible directions for you to navigate your way around The Conference Center and beyond during your GeekGirlCon ’16 visit to Seattle, whether you are in Seattle every day or this is your first time in our favorite city.

Neighborhoods Near The Conference Center

The Conference Center is located in Downtown Seattle. If you walk out the front door of The Conference Center, turn left, and walk up the hill over the freeway (Interstate 5) you will reach the Capitol Hill Neighborhood. Capitol Hill is Seattle’s densest neighborhood and host to a slew of restaurants, bars, dance clubs, and theaters.

If you walk out the front of The Conference Center and turn right and then another right on 5th Avenue, you will find yourself at the monorail, which whisks you over to the EMP (GeekGirlCon ’11 was around here), or at the South Lake Union Streetcar, which will take you to the fast-growing South Lake Union area, home to Amazon.com headquarters, the Gates Foundation, and the shores of Lake Union. If you turn right and keep walking down Pike Street, you will end up at the world famous Pike Place Market. Take a right on First Avenue, just before you get to the market, and walk a few blocks (roughly North), and you will reach Belltown. Belltown is another dense neighborhood of restaurants and bars.

If you take the bus tunnel to the International District station or head left/South on Second Avenue, you will reach the historic Pioneer Square and the International District area.

Eating & Drinking

Yeah, We Totally Has Coffee Here

Seattle is known as a coffee town. From the ubiquitous reminder of Kara Thrace (that’s totally the origin of the name, right?), to hang-out / write-your-novel coffee shops, to coffee tastings and meticulous roasters, Seattle has a lot of options for the coffee-lover (or coffee-lover adjacent).

Starbucks, Tully’s Some love ’em, some hate ’em, but they are everywhere (cue scene from Best in Show). They have decent breakfast options, sandwiches, snack packs, and lots of pastries/treats. If you are familiar with the chains, they are pretty much like they are everywhere else. You can visit the original SBUX in Pike Place Market for a bit of history and a crowd.

For another nice dive into great coffee, you can also check out @jcolman‘s guide to coffee in Seattle (for another, unrelated con).

Restaurants, Bars, and Shops Recommended by GeekGirlCon Staff

For food reviews, you can try the above, go with yelp, or try out zomato.com, a locally grown start-up (acquired in 2009 by IAC) that provides restaurant information, user ratings, links to reviews, and reservations via an app or their website.

For even more specific food information, you can check out MSG 150, a detailed, slightly irreverent, obsessive cataloging of every lunch place in Seattle’s International District. A few places have come & gone, but still a great resource pho digging up some (dim sum, you might say) hand-shaven noodles or khao mun gai.

Books and Geeky Things

We suspect that GeekGirlCon attendees might have a geeky or nerdy bent and might even like to pick up some relevant reading materials between panels, game sessions, and singing along with Buffy and geeky musicians.